How to Photograph Fireworks

Post by
Nicole Matthews
on July 1, 2019

It’s a Monday night on June 24th, 2019 and the Philadelphia Phillies just beat the New York Mets 13 – 7. The crowd goes wild at Citizens Bank Park and so does everyone at home sporting red and white, cheering at the screen. Everyone knows what comes next… Fireworks! The people to your left and right pull out their phones, and so do you, to capture the perfect Instagram or Facebook-worthy pics. You take shot after shot, but they just aren’t capturing the fireworks in all their glory. Womp Womp.

Don’t worry, we have some tips to take perfect firework photos this 4th of July or anytime!

What Supplies You Need:

Ditch the cell phone and grab a DSLR

Use a tripod

Grab a cable release or wireless remote shutter release

Your Camera Settings:

Shoot high res RAW files

Turn on Noise Reduction

Lower ISO is better, try 100 to start. You might question this because we are shooting at night. Give it a try before experimenting and you might like the results.

Aperture setting should be narrow, between f/8 and f/16.

Make sure your camera is set to Manual focus. Otherwise, your camera might have trouble locking the moving target in the dark abyss around.

Shutter speed should be set to Bulb “B”. You want to capture a long exposure of the entire firework lifespan from start to burst.

Tip: Be creative and have fun! Try doing a single firework, then leave it open to capture a few more in the same exposure and see how you like the results. Oh yeah, please share your fireworks pics with us on social media by tagging @solutionsbyagm.

Nicole Matthews

Nicole is our digital marketing, sales and content guru. When she's not making your website rank #1 in Google, you can find her photographing weddings, drinking an iced cold IPA after a run, or spending quality time with her family.